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NCAA FINAL FOUR: Championship Game Thread

What makes UConn unique is that they have a very demanding coaching staff where outstanding players are willing to sacrifice personal scoring totals for the goal of winning national championships.Their half court offense is outstanding and opponents don't have enough time to prepare a defense to stop all the easy baskets.Illinois,.Alabama and Purdue had outstanding seasons but UConn has the coaching and talent that wears down opponents resulting in double digit wins.Now the battles begin in the transfer portal with highly successful teams losing many of their best players.
Fit is also super important for Hurley, because not all players are going to respond to his coaching style. If you get guys who like that style, he's the type of coach you run through a wall for.... But that's a subset of players.
 
Or just maybe being put in a a position to succeed, would benefit him.. I have this funny feeling, thats what we're gonna see next year.

The reason they didn't come here is that we didn't have the foundation that would have enabled them to get those championships. Pike built up that foundation a little (where Hurley/Wright weren't willing to wait) but the gap with the top teams is still large.
foundation, huh ? Please define. Is Schiano still building his solid foundation ? Does Florida Atlantic have a solid foundation ?

That's a phony excuse. Good coaches don't need excuses and apologist fans shouldn't invent them. Good coaches attract good players and develop good chemistry.
 
foundation, huh ? Please define. Is Schiano still building his solid foundation ? Does Florida Atlantic have a solid foundation ?

That's a phony excuse. Good coaches don't need excuses and apologist fans shouldn't invent them. Good coaches attract good players and develop good chemistry.
Definition: Pre-NIL the foundation was a combination of facilities, coaching reputation (including assistants and influenced by salary pool available), reputation and excitement around the school/program, and ability to produce bags of cash under the table or hire the player's guardian. Post NIL it's mostly just NIL cash.

This is 100% not a phony excuse. It's just the reality of the situation. If you set your expectations for performance at the level of Duke or UConn (look at UConn, why can't we do that, wah wah, Pike sucks) , and then fire coaches or spout negativity based on your unrealistic expectations, that's a recipe for failure and not making progress. If you set expectations as being regular incremental gains (more steps forward than back), then you can build the foundation over time, including building the fan and donor base.
 
Definition: Pre-NIL the foundation was a combination of facilities, coaching reputation (including assistants and influenced by salary pool available), reputation and excitement around the school/program, and ability to produce bags of cash under the table or hire the player's guardian. Post NIL it's mostly just NIL cash.

This is 100% not a phony excuse. It's just the reality of the situation. If you set your expectations for performance at the level of Duke or UConn (look at UConn, why can't we do that, wah wah, Pike sucks) , and then fire coaches or spout negativity based on your unrealistic expectations, that's a recipe for failure and not making progress. If you set expectations as being regular incremental gains (more steps forward than back), then you can build the foundation over time, including building the fan and donor base.
sorry, no, doesn't make sense....reputation/excitement/etc. is achieved by the coach via recruiting and winning. that is not 'foundation'. Did Wagner or Rhode Island have your kind of foundation when Hurley got there ? No. He was successful without your kind of foundation because he's a great coach. And whatever he built was soon lost bc the next URI coach was fired after 3 years.

so no, "foundation" was and is coach and apologist hogwash. any coach moaning about "foundation" is bullshitting to milk more years from a gullible fan base and university.

when will Schiano's solid foundation be complete ? 2039 ? Sad fans don't get it, but it's true.
 
sorry, no, doesn't make sense....reputation/excitement/etc. is achieved by the coach via recruiting and winning. that is not 'foundation'. Did Wagner or Rhode Island have your kind of foundation when Hurley got there ? No. He was successful without your kind of foundation because he's a great coach. And whatever he built was soon lost bc the next URI coach was fired after 3 years.

so no, "foundation" was and is coach and apologist hogwash. any coach moaning about "foundation" is bullshitting to milk more years from a gullible fan base and university.

when will Schiano's solid foundation be complete ? 2039 ? Sad fans don't get it, but it's true.
OK, so you have a well deserved reputation for being dense and illogical. But still, how can you be so dense and illogical?

Reputation is achieved by the coach? So coaching at Duke is the same as coaching at Lehigh? A good coach should succeed equally at both places? How frigging dumb is that?

Hurley succeeded at Wagner and RI the same as Pike succeeded at Stoneybrook... they did well considering the foundation they had and the ceiling of those schools.

Your the kind of guy that would fire Billy Bean because the A's lost in the ALCS despite having the lowest salary in MLB. It's just sooo stooopid.
 
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OK, so you have a well deserved reputation for being dense and illogical. But still, how can you be so dense and illogical?

Reputation is achieved by the coach? So coaching at Duke is the same as coaching at Lehigh? A good coach should succeed equally at both places? How frigging dumb is that?

Hurley succeeded at Wagner and RI the same as Pike succeeded at Stoneybrook... they did well considering the foundation they had and the ceiling of those schools.

Your the kind of guy that would fire Billy Bean because the A's lost in the ALCS despite having the lowest salary in MLB. It's just sooo stooopid.
Stop feeding trolls
 
OK, so you have a well deserved reputation for being dense and illogical. But still, how can you be so dense and illogical?

Reputation is achieved by the coach? So coaching at Duke is the same as coaching at Lehigh? A good coach should succeed equally at both places? How frigging dumb is that?

Hurley succeeded at Wagner and RI the same as Pike succeeded at Stoneybrook... they did well considering the foundation they had and the ceiling of those schools.

Your the kind of guy that would fire Billy Bean because the A's lost in the ALCS despite having the lowest salary in MLB. It's just sooo stooopid.
Stoneybrook LOL. Same conference as Donnybrook ? Clown. You missed the point, which is that your definition of foundation includes what the coach accomplishes himself. he did not have other pre-existing foundation when he took those jobs, and still won. so, if a coach cries about foundation, it's his own shortcoming. I’m talking coach reputation, not school reputation.

Schiano is still crying about foundation as if losing is not his fault....and so are you.
 
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Fit is also super important for Hurley, because not all players are going to respond to his coaching style. If you get guys who like that style, he's the type of coach you run through a wall for.... But that's a subset of players.
He only needs five talented players per recruiting cycle which will be very easy after winning two straight national championships.
 
I know it's a point made by a troll, but obviously recruiting in a small conference is going to be different than recruiting in a power conference. In a small conference the basketball prestige / program pedigree of EVERY school is, to round numbers, zero. So then yes, recruiting success is mostly a function of the coach.

But if you believe recruiting success is ONLY a function of the coach then I guess you must be scratching your head wondering why Hurley was able to win championships at UConn but not Wagner or URI.
 
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Really pisses me off watching all UConn players constantly moving off ball. I know Pike was watching, but was he learning?
Serious question: do you think Steve Pikiell, prior to last night, did not want his players to move off ball?
 
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Don't you read the board? Pike doesn't run an offense.
I think even most of the "no offense" people would admit that there are some general things the players are supposed to do i.e. run around and try to get open. This seems like another step further.
 
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I think even most of the "no offense" people would admit that there are some general things the players are supposed to do i.e. run around and try to get open. This seems like another step further.
Just for a personal reality check, I decided to rewatch a game. I googled Rutgers basketball full game video. The first one that came up was Wake Forest game from this year:



First three plays, tons of motion, including Gavin Griffiths getting a great shot coming off of a screen...which he clanked.
 
First 5 minutes looked like the whole season: Cliff drops a nice pass and goes out of bounds. Gavin misses an open jumper. 4 TOs. Other team makes threes. We don't, not even close. Simpson misses a 15 footer. Cliff pushed off the block time and again and not one shot.
 
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I think even most of the "no offense" people would admit that there are some general things the players are supposed to do i.e. run around and try to get open. This seems like another step further.
Running around trying to get open has to be coordinated. When we do it, it seems haphazard, other than that stupid end line out of bounds pass that we use ad nauseum. UConn sets are exquisite and the players execute them very well, especially Cam. I'm happy for Cam.
 
But if you believe recruiting success is ONLY a function of the coach then I guess you must be scratching your head wondering why Hurley was able to win championships at UConn but not Wagner or URI.

Post of the year IMHO

I love when a succinct common sense comment just completely blows up a trolls nonsense

Well done
 
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Serious question: do you think Steve Pikiell, prior to last night, did not want his players to move off ball?
So all throughout the season he wants his players to run around off ball, yet they don't? Are you saying he has lost the team?
 
First 5 minutes looked like the whole season: Cliff drops a nice pass and goes out of bounds. Gavin misses an open jumper. 4 TOs. Other team makes threes. We don't, not even close. Simpson misses a 15 footer. Cliff pushed off the block time and again and not one shot.

And you can’t really compare our “motion” with UConn’s. Their motion is soooo much more crisp, complicated and deliberate. Night and day really.

Sure our guys ran around but …..
 
And you can’t really compare our “motion” with UConn’s. Their motion is soooo much more crisp, complicated and deliberate. Night and day really.

Sure our guys ran around but …..
Our offense was really bad. I think the shot making was more at fault than the crispness of the motion. And, poor shotmaking can be like a cancer. Nobody trusts, so nobody passes, so people stop moving as if they expect to actually get the ball.

But the idea that they stood around is silly.
 
What time stamp are the off ball screens?
First RU possession, time stamp 00:43. Then there are a bunch of Gavin Griffith's turnovers. Then another nice screen at 1:55 which, ironically, frees up Griffiths for a nice look which he clanks. That one play debunks so many message board bad-take memes all at once.
 
First RU possession, time stamp 00:43. Then there are a bunch of Gavin Griffith's turnovers. Then another nice screen at 1:55 which, ironically, frees up Griffiths for a nice look which he clanks. That one play debunks so many message board bad-take memes all at once.
Yes yes but where’s the part where we run an offense?
 
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Ugh, that Wake game start...

First possession, Noah tries to feed inside to Cliff. The pass is a little long and Cliff loses it out of bounds.

Second possession, Hyatt gets tied up on the drive but we have the arrow. On the restart, Griffiths misses the corner 3.

Third possession, Hyatt hits the 3 assisted by Noah.

Fourth possession, Noah steps out of bounds while receiving a pass. Self-inflicted turnover.

Fifth possession, Griffiths tries to bounce pass it to Cliff off the dribble but Cliff may have been boxing out for a rebound attempt assuming Griffiths would shoot. Turnover.

Sixth possession, Simpson gets an open look from foul line extended but front rims it.

Seventh possession, Griffiths steps out of bounds while receiving a pass from Noah, returning the favor.

After Wake hits a 3 on the next possession, we call time out. We are down 13-3, going 1-3 with four turnovers on our first four possessions.

Eighth possession, Austin Williams brings the ball up the court. He passes to Cliff once he loses his dribble and immediately gets it back. Then he takes a wide open 3 with nobody else touching the ball on the possession, and misses it badly.

Ninth possession, a series of passes around the perimeter with virtually no movement away from the ball. Hyatt and Williams stay beyond the arc and switch positions but that's about it. Noah misses a contested 3.

Tenth possession, Hyatt misses a 3 from several feet beyond the arc. Shot was taken early in the shot clock, although he was open. Davis gets the offensive rebound and it gets knocked out of bounds so we maintain possession. But it ends with Simpson missing a step back 3.

Eleventh possession, Simpson misses a jumper from the FT line.

So in our first 11 possessions, we were 1-8 with four turnovers. The deficit was 18-3 and the game was pretty much over.

I'm so glad I watched that again!
 
Ugh, that Wake game start...

First possession, Noah tries to feed inside to Cliff. The pass is a little long and Cliff loses it out of bounds.

Second possession, Hyatt gets tied up on the drive but we have the arrow. On the restart, Griffiths misses the corner 3.

Third possession, Hyatt hits the 3 assisted by Noah.

Fourth possession, Noah steps out of bounds while receiving a pass. Self-inflicted turnover.

Fifth possession, Griffiths tries to bounce pass it to Cliff off the dribble but Cliff may have been boxing out for a rebound attempt assuming Griffiths would shoot. Turnover.

Sixth possession, Simpson gets an open look from foul line extended but front rims it.

Seventh possession, Griffiths steps out of bounds while receiving a pass from Noah, returning the favor.

After Wake hits a 3 on the next possession, we call time out. We are down 13-3, going 1-3 with four turnovers on our first four possessions.

Eighth possession, Austin Williams brings the ball up the court. He passes to Cliff once he loses his dribble and immediately gets it back. Then he takes a wide open 3 with nobody else touching the ball on the possession, and misses it badly.

Ninth possession, a series of passes around the perimeter with virtually no movement away from the ball. Hyatt and Williams stay beyond the arc and switch positions but that's about it. Noah misses a contested 3.

Tenth possession, Hyatt misses a 3 from several feet beyond the arc. Shot was taken early in the shot clock, although he was open. Davis gets the offensive rebound and it gets knocked out of bounds so we maintain possession. But it ends with Simpson missing a step back 3.

Eleventh possession, Simpson misses a jumper from the FT line.

So in our first 11 possessions, we were 1-8 with four turnovers. The deficit was 18-3 and the game was pretty much over.

I'm so glad I watched that again!
Not saying it wasn't horrible. But it was motion, screens, and running an offense. With some pretty terrible players. Terrible at: passing, shooting, cutting, decision making, screening, and not stepping out of bounds.
 
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Just for a personal reality check, I decided to rewatch a game. I googled Rutgers basketball full game video. The first one that came up was Wake Forest game from this year:



First three plays, tons of motion, including Gavin Griffiths getting a great shot coming off of a screen...which he clanked.
Stuck on the train so I'll give it a watch.
The great shot and miss you reference was an in-bound play not during the flow of play.

1st play: Derek needs to set that back screen higher for Clif and Clif has to catch it. Good play idea - poor player execution and bad pass from Noah.

2nd play: lots of dribbling and players shuffling around to fill space. No action to get off ball players open.

3rd play: inbounds play for an open GG shot and miss.

4th play: Derek does screen for Hyatt how floats around and makes a shot after a Noah drive.

5th play: off ball screen for GG but it was going towards Hyatt for a handoff and not for a shot. Hyatt was going towards GG. There was no space to consider a shot coming off the screens. GG and Hyatt were on top of each other.

Is that on Hyatt for not staying away or was the play designed to hand off to GG?
 
Ugh, that Wake game start...

First possession, Noah tries to feed inside to Cliff. The pass is a little long and Cliff loses it out of bounds.

Second possession, Hyatt gets tied up on the drive but we have the arrow. On the restart, Griffiths misses the corner 3.

Third possession, Hyatt hits the 3 assisted by Noah.

Fourth possession, Noah steps out of bounds while receiving a pass. Self-inflicted turnover.

Fifth possession, Griffiths tries to bounce pass it to Cliff off the dribble but Cliff may have been boxing out for a rebound attempt assuming Griffiths would shoot. Turnover.

Sixth possession, Simpson gets an open look from foul line extended but front rims it.

Seventh possession, Griffiths steps out of bounds while receiving a pass from Noah, returning the favor.

After Wake hits a 3 on the next possession, we call time out. We are down 13-3, going 1-3 with four turnovers on our first four possessions.

Eighth possession, Austin Williams brings the ball up the court. He passes to Cliff once he loses his dribble and immediately gets it back. Then he takes a wide open 3 with nobody else touching the ball on the possession, and misses it badly.

Ninth possession, a series of passes around the perimeter with virtually no movement away from the ball. Hyatt and Williams stay beyond the arc and switch positions but that's about it. Noah misses a contested 3.

Tenth possession, Hyatt misses a 3 from several feet beyond the arc. Shot was taken early in the shot clock, although he was open. Davis gets the offensive rebound and it gets knocked out of bounds so we maintain possession. But it ends with Simpson missing a step back 3.

Eleventh possession, Simpson misses a jumper from the FT line.

So in our first 11 possessions, we were 1-8 with four turnovers. The deficit was 18-3 and the game was pretty much over.

I'm so glad I watched that again!

Haha. I stopped at Noah stepping out of bounds. Don’t continue??
 
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Purdue only had one made three point shot. I know feeding Edey was the game plani and UConn defending the 3 to the hilt, but holy hell how does that happen?
It was a great game plan by Hurley. Defend Edey 1:1 with Clingan (and with Johnson they had 10 fouls to give). And take away the three. Edey eventually wore down especially on the defensive end.
 
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Starting the game at 9:30 pm reduced attendance along with the game not being on CBS.
At the end of the day, they don't care about viewership, only money. If they got more money from CBS, it would be on CBS. If they got more money by starting the game earlier on the East Coast, they would do that.

If they knew they could do something next year that would triple their revenue, and cut viewership in half, they would likely do it in a heartbeat.
 
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